Free Family Jewels by Stuart Woods Page B

Centurion Pictures.”
    “Ben’s father is my closest friend. We were police detectives together in our youth. Dino is now the police commissioner of New York City.”
    “You seem very unlike a policeman.”
    “That’s what the policemen I worked with thought. Dino was the only one I really got along with. First chance they got, they got rid of me, using an injury as an excuse. Best thing that ever happened to me.”
    “Then you went to law school?”
    “I did that first, before the police academy. Afterward an old law school classmate urged me to take the bar exam, then join his firm. That worked out rather well.”
    “I seem to remember that your son is the stepson of the actor Vance Calder.”
    “That’s correct. His mother left me for him before she knew she was pregnant.”
    “Did Calder know?”
    “A good question. I think he may have suspected, but who knows? Neither he nor my former wife is around to answer that question.”
    “But Peter took your name?”
    “That was his decision. I was very pleased when he told me.”
    “Do you see a lot of him?”
    “Not enough. We spent some quality time together at my home in England this spring, while he was working on a film there. Both he and Ben married their girlfriends there, too, and it was nice to be around for that.”
    They had just finished lunch when a distant telephone rang, and Maria appeared, a cordless instrument in her hand. “The phone is for Mr. Barrington,” she said.
    “That’s odd. How would anybody know to reach me here?”
    “Only one way to find out,” Gala said.
    Stone took the phone from her. “Hello?”
    “Stone, it’s Nicky Chalmers.”
    “Hello, Nicky.”
    “Vanessa and I are in town, having lunch with some friends, and I saw Carrie Fiske’s ex-husband, Harvey Biggers, across the plaza, browsing the jewelry from the Indians who sell under the portico at the old governor’s mansion. I mention thisbecause Carrie said he’s been stalking her, and you’ve been helping her deal with that.”
    “Did you speak to him?”
    “No, it was just a fleeting glimpse.”
    “Nicky, if he turns up again you should avoid him. I’ll explain why later.”
    “Avoiding Harvey will be a pleasure.” Nicky hung up.

21
    S tone stayed at Gala’s house until almost three o’clock; then he got back into his borrowed Range Rover and, instead of returning to the Eagles’ residence, turned toward Santa Fe and drove into the town.
    He found a parking place half a block from the plaza, then he took a very slow walk around, checking every shop and every bench in the little park. He walked over to the old governor’s mansion, one of the oldest buildings in the United States, parts of it dating back to the sixteenth century. A group of Native American jewelry makers were camped on the sidewalk, under the portico, selling their jewelry. Stone strolled along the sidewalk, looking less at the jewelry and more at the people. Harvey Biggers was not among them.
    After an hour of searching the area, Stone got back into the Range Rover and drove back to Tesuque, through the villageand up to the Eagle residence. There were caterers’ trucks and a flower van parked out front, and inside, the living room was being decorated for Susannah’s birthday party, and a man was tuning the grand piano.
    Stone wandered into Ed’s study and found Nicky Chalmers reading a book about Winchester rifles. Nicky looked up at him. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your lunch with my phone call,” he said, “but I thought you’d want to know about Harvey.”
    Stone sat down on the sofa beside Nicky. “Do you have any idea why he’s here?”
    “None whatever,” Nicky replied, “unless he’s still stalking Carrie.”
    “Since I last saw you, Harvey has been connected to the corpse next door to Carrie Fiske’s house in East Hampton. Not only that, he was found in similar circumstances in West Palm Beach two years ago.”
    “That’s a very disturbing coincidence,”